Jabs and jokes as leaders fight each other for Francophones' vote during first debate

MONTREAL — Federal party leaders alternated between jabs and jokes early as they sparred during the election campaign’s only French-language debate Wednesday. The first of two federal campaign debates in Montreal began with moderator Patrice Roy exhorting the Montreal Canadiens to win a do-or-die game that forced organizers to change the event’s start time at the last minute. But knives started flying fast between Liberal Leader Mark Carney , Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre , Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh as they debated how they could deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. Leaders also debated their proposals on the cost of living, energy and climate, identity and sovereignty as well as immigration and foreign affairs. After Carney boasted of launching negotiations with the European Union days after becoming prime minister, Blanchet accused him of being an expert in “tax shelters.” He was referring to reports that multiple green investment funds he oversaw at Brookfield Asset management were set up in offshore tax havens. Singh also took shots at Carney and Poilievre early on. He accused the first of meeting the king of England (referring to Charles, also king of Canada) instead of increasing aid to families and workers, and the second of wanting to bend the knee to U.S. President Donald Trump and “Americanize” Canada.

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Poilievre frequently went after his main opponent Carney, repeating his well-used accusations of Carney having a key role in the “lost Liberal decade” and contributing to the current cost of living issues that ail voters for having worked with the Liberal government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau. Carney, who was the least comfortable in French of the four leaders, was far less biting and focused on promoting his response to Trump since becoming prime minister in mid-March, picked by the party to replace Trudeau. Midway through the debate, he had yet to strongly attack another leader. But the verbal jousting was occasionally interrupted by moments of levity, particularly in response to a question about what American products they ceased purchasing since Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Carney’s opponents emphasized they buy their own groceries, something he admitted in the Liberal leadership that he didn’t do. Blanchet, Singh and Poilievre realizing they had all stopped buying American strawberries specifically earned a laugh from the group. “It’s a delicious conversation,” chuckled Poilievre. During a debate on the cost of living, Singh accused Poilievre of only overseeing the building of six homes when he was the minister responsible for housing in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Poilievre countered that it was in fact 200,000 and that he was proud of his work. Moderator Patrice Roy occasionally slipped an editorial comment into his questions, at one point asking leaders what they had to “hide” by making the “totally irresponsible” decision not to publish their costed platforms before the debates. Only the Bloc Québécois has published its full platform but has not published independent costing estimates of some of its commitments. Poilievre, Carney and Singh all dodged the question but promised their costed platforms would be published in coming days, suggesting it would only be after the two debates. They also said they would be fiscally responsible all the while cutting taxes and supporting Canadians. “These are Harry Potter budgets… they want to do magic. They want to spend more money but cut at the same time,” Blanchet said of the other leaders’ platforms. Most leaders were equally evasive when responding to questions about energy development and their views on pipelines. Only Poilievre unequivocally stated support for more pipelines and the development of nuclear energy all the while opposing to the Liberals’ electric vehicle mandate beginning 2030. Carney said he supported pipeline development but also said he would respect a province or a First Nation’s opposition. He argued that Canada needed to focus on low-risk and low-carbon oil and gas. Singh said he would prefer that public money be invested in clean energy. Blanchet insisted that any new pipelines would have to be approved by Quebec all the while casting doubt on the province’s apparent newfound interest in oil and gas development. The NDP, Bloc Québécois and Conservative leaders were focused all evening on stealing Francophones’ support from the Liberals during the election campaign’s only French-language debate. Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault was expected to join the debate until the organizing commission gave him the boot on the morning of the event, saying the party wasn’t running enough candidates to be eligible . The debate occurred just two days before the beginning of early voting on Friday and less than two weeks before election day on April 28. The French debate is a key platform for parties looking to shore up support in seat-rich Quebec. A new Postmedia-Leger poll published Wednesday suggests that with 40 per cent support in Quebec, Carney’s Liberals are dominating the Bloc Québécois (25 per cent) and the Conservatives (23 per cent). But the Leger poll also suggests that the five leaders are fighting over a surprisingly small pool of undecided voters. Only 20 per cent of Quebec respondents said the debate would affect how they vote, a number that falls to 17 per cent nationally. The leaders also faced off against the Montreal Canadiens NHL team for Quebecers’ attention in the second hour of the debate. The French debate was originally scheduled for 8 p.m. but was moved forward two hours after the NDP and Bloc Québécois complained that the schedule conflicted with the Habs game at 7 p.m. If the Canadiens win that game, the venerated team is guaranteed the last wildcard spot in the NHL playoffs. Moderator Patrice Roy acknowledged the last-minute change at the start of the debate all the while imploring the Habs to win to make it all worth it. National Post cnardi@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.